No Need for Speed
Confession time: I’ve never seen “Top Gun” and I don’t feel any desire to watch it. Maybe it's because I’m a millennial and the movie came out in 1986 (and did you know there's somehow a sequel coming out this year?!). "Top Gun" stars Tom Cruise as a hot-shot jet fighter pilot, and that’s as much as I need to know. I am, however, very taken with the most memorable quote from the movie; a catchphrase that’s endured through decades and is now cemented in our pop-culture vocab—for better or worse.The quote, of course, is, “I feel the need, the need for speed!”
But what if this need for speed is what’s slowing us down? Before you speed away from this blog, let me explain.
The world seems to be moving at light-speed these days: technology is advancing rapidly; there’s a profound, renewed push for racial and economic equality sweeping the country; and on top of all that, a global pandemic has upended how we live and work. Many of us are still staying home as much as we can, working remotely and doing our part to help slow the spread of coronavirus. 
Life can feel like a big paradox right now: the world is spinning faster around you, while you’re landlocked. It feels like we're the proverbial "eye of the storm" of world events. But guess what? You don’t have to succumb to professional and personal vertigo.
You can slow down. (Pictured, right, Tom Cruise in Top Gun giving this blog the "thumbs up")
I get it; the need for speed is as American as Broadway musicals and baseball, and it has infiltrated the workplace, too. A lot of times we associate speed with growth. Or believe we can’t have one without the other when it comes to our careers; constantly vying for the next job or promotion or leg-up.
A lot of times we associate speed with growth, or believe we can't have one without the other in our careers.
The Harvard Business Journal dove into how there tends to be a “speed gap” in American business and how more and more companies are “defying the laws of business physics,” by taking more time to scale up than their competitors, yet performing better. This mindset can be applied to our individual careers and jobs as well.
How does it work?
I don’t mean you should stop doing your work and sink into your couch to watch “Top Gun” on repeat. Don't literally watch the grains of sand pile up at the bottom of your hourglass expecting magic to intervene and get your work done for you.
Slowing down is about finding balance again in the midst of turbulence...applying a more holistic approach to your work and life
Slowing down is about finding balance again in the midst of turbulence and applying a more holistic approach to your work and life. The benefits may be hard to measure in the short-term, but make a big-impact in your long-term goals, helping you find new ways to add value to your team and supervisor.
Slowing down offers a chance to:
- Gain clarity around your job responsibilities
- Integrate your values more holistically
- Reevaluate your approach—When are you at your professional best and why?
- Fine-tune or "upskill" your professional talents—like using online courses or tutorials
This approach is essential to the Creatis playbook—the centering of core values as our foundation for change. We have the opportunity, right now, to examine our personal and professional values and find actionable ways to integrate them into our day-to-day. You and I have the chance to complete unique "merger" of values/goals that helps us prepare to scale up in our career, do what's right and improve our world after the dust settles (or as it's settling). Maybe once we've slowed down, we'll all be more ready to get back up to speed. For now, I'm saying we don't need it!
If you're looking to put your newfound marketing or creative skills to work, learn more about joining the Creatis team below.
